1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing chocolate. In particular, the invention relates to a process for preparing chocolate wherewith significant savings in energy are achieved over the prior art processes. The process of the invention yields a chocolate product having good taste properties and a soft mouth feel. The advantages achieved with the invention in energy consumption are particularly significant when the chocolate is prepared using sucrose as a sweetener, but they are considerable also when the sweetener is other than sucrose.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In this description and the appended claims, the term "sweetener" denotes a substance or mixture of substances imparting both bulk and sweetness to the chocolate product, and it may be sucrose or a sucrose substitute, such as fructose, glucose, a sugar alcohol (e.g. xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, lactitol, maltitol, isomalt) or polydextrose or inulin together with a sugar alcohol and/or an intense sweetener (such as aspartame), or a mixture of these.
Basic processes for preparing chocolate and the effect of the different steps of the processes on the properties of the final product have been described, for instance, in Minifie, B. W., Chocolate, Cocoa and Confectionery, 2nd Edition, The AVI Publishing Company, Inc., Westport, Conn., 1982, pp. 107-125, and in Ullmanns Enzyklopadie der technischen Chemie, 4th Edition, Volume 20, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim, 1981, pp. 682-686.
In the most commonly used process for preparing chocolate (FIG. 1a), a base mass is formed of the chocolate raw materials (sweetener, cocoa liquor and part of the cocoa butter and, when milk chocolate is to be prepared, milk powder) by mixing and kneading them into a homogeneous, plastic mass. This base mass is processed further by roller refining, the main purpose of which is to diminish the particle size, thereafter by mechanical heat treatment, i.e. conching, prior to or during which the remainder of the cocoa butter and the possible emulsifiers, flavours and intense sweeteners are added. During the conching the final taste of the chocolate is developed and the desired consistency of the mass is achieved. The conching times required in such known methods are rather long, for example 16-24 h (cf. the above book by Minifie, p. 123), which will naturally significantly affect the energy costs and prolong the manufacturing process.
In the crumb process (FIG. 2b), specifically developed for producing milk chocolate with special flavor properties, the main part of the raw materials, i.e. sucrose, cocoa liquor and ingredients derived from milk and part of the cocoa butter, are formed into a solid granular intermediate, referred to as crumb, by mixing and vacuum drying/kneeding the ingredients, and the crumb is subjected to refining and conching with the rest of the raw materials. (Minifie p.???)
In both of these conventional processes the sweetener is included in the mixture subjected to conching.
In the process known as the CMC process (Chocolate liquor-Milk powder-Compounded process; cf. Industrial chocolate manufacture and use, p. 137), which has been known since c. 1980, off-flavours and moisture are removed from cocoa liquor/milk powder mixes in a Petzomate apparatus in which the mass is sprayed downwards in a thin film into a stream of hot air rising upwards.
The object of the present invention is a process by which a chocolate product having good organoleptic properties and texture is obtained while significant savings in time and energy are achieved over the methods previously employed.